PET ROCK PAPER – WRITING GUIDELINES AND SCORING RUBRIC
GEOLOGY 3041 (Darrell Henry)
Fall 2009
Writing a scientific paper presents opportunities and challenges to communicate the research that
the student has completed. In addition to the general principles of good writing styles, there are
expectations of specific content that is typically related to the geologic subdiscipline. In the Pet Rock
paper the expectations are that this paper be written in the style of a professional petrology paper.
This document gives some guidelines that should help the student organize and write about the
research that they have done, and it also gives the scoring rubric that will be used to evaluate the
student research paper.
WRITING GUIDELINES
Guidelines for scientific writing are meant to help focus the efforts of the student in the writing
and revising process. There are two general questions that should be considered: (1) What are the
formatting and figure requirements as well as writing styles that are expected for this paper and (2)
What are the components/sections that are expected or appropriate for a paper within a specific
geology subdiscipline? The guideline below deals with the components, with some explanations and
examples, which may be considered in the Pet Rock paper. There are point values assigned to each
section (values italicized and underlined) that represent the relative importance of these sections and
are the basis for the scoring in the rubric given at the end of this document.
(1) Formatting requirements, figure development and writing styles for the Pet
Rock paper.
Formatting requirements (20)
Each professional journal has a formatting style that is required by that journal, and it is
commonly slightly different from other journals in the field. Editors and reviewers will generally be
annoyed when a manuscript is submitted that is not in the format set forth by the journal.
Consequently, the Pet Rock paper will use the formatting style adopted by the American
Mineralogist. See a recent American Mineralogist issue or check the formatting on line at the
American Mineralogist website.)
Figures (40)
Figures should be used to supplement the text in the paper. It can be a very effective way to
communicate ideas/information. In addition, it serves to break up the text. The text, in turn, should
explain what the reader should take away from the image.
Each figure should:
 clearly and effectively represent the information intended
 have a caption that briefly explains what is in the figure.
 have the proper citations if derived from another source
 have the appropriate labeling and scales on the figure, if appropriate
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General writing style of paper:
Paragraph construction (20)
When you write a paragraph the lead sentence in the paragraph should basically answer the
question “What is the news? Or what is the important idea?”, and the rest of the paragraph should
explain it. When you are finished with your paper you should be able just read the first sentence of
each paragraph and get the essence of the paper. Below is an example from one of my papers
(Henry, D. J. and Dutrow, B. (2001) Compositional zoning and element partitioning of nickeloan
tourmaline in a metamorphosed karstbauxite from Samos, Greece. American Mineralogist, 86, 11301142).
Natural tourmalines contain a wide range of elements, but those with substantial amounts of
Ni and Co are relatively unusual. In most cases, tourmaline with high Ni contents also has high
Cr levels because the tourmaline-bearing rocks are associated with meta-ultramafic rocks (e.g.,
Challis et al. 1995; Michailidis et al. 1995). For instance, a chromian dravite (8.5 wt% Cr2O3),
from a calcareous rock in contact with serpentinite, has the highest Ni level previously recorded
in tourmaline, 0.75 wt% NiO [0.1 atoms per formula unit (apfu)] (Jan et al. 1972; Henry and
Dutrow 1996). The recorded concentration levels of Co in tourmaline are even lower, with the
maximal reported Co being 45 ppm in a tourmaline from an aplite (Power 1968; Henry and
Dutrow 1996).
Mechanics of writing – Grammar, spelling and punctuation (20)
One of the quickest ways to send a message that you have not carefully executed a paper is if it is
full errors related to grammar, spelling and punctuation. A word processing program can help some
of these potential errors, but it is not a panacea. Geology is full of technical terms and unusual place
names that are not typically in a processor dictionary. Further, some programs will try to reformat in
a manner that is not appropriate for the application. Carefully read and reread the paper before it is
submitted to reduce the number of mechanical errors.
(2) Components/Sections in the Pet Rock Paper
Petrology papers generally have a series of components/sections that are generally included.
These can change depending on the type of study, but for this assignment the following
components/sections should be included:
Title: (10)
Come up with a title that expresses what you did and the importance of the study. A title such as:
“Amphibolite xenolith in Late Archean Granitoids of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana-Wyoming:
Evidence for interaction with granitoids” would be an appropriate type of title.
Abstract (20)
You need an abstract that tells the reader what you found. This does not have to be long –
generally 200-400 words. However, it is commonly the only thing that a reader might see. So it has
to express the important points that you want to convey in a relatively few, carefully chose words.
Introduction (20)
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This section is very important because it will draw the reader in. You want to express to the
reader why your project is significant (in other words “Why should I care?”). For example, if you are
working on a mafic xenolith in the Long Lake granite you might want to start your introduction with
a sentence something like: Mafic xenoliths in granitic rocks commonly preserve the only information
about the earlier crustal constituents and the nature of the thermal conditions prior to the intrusion
of the granitic melts.
After you have explained why your study is significant you need to state your hypothesis or
“purpose of study” and explain how you are going to test the hypothesis. It might be something like
“The purpose of the study is to investigate textural and chemical evidence for an earlier
metamorphism and to determine the PT conditions that were preserved in the amphibolite. This will
be accomplished through detailed petrographic and mineral chemical investigations of the
amphibolite”
Geologic Setting (20)
The geologic setting includes not only the geographic location, but the geologic framework in
which the samples are set. For samples from the Beartooth Mountains I would suggest starting with
a discussion of the general history of the Beartooth Mountains beginning with information on the
Archean and emphasizing that this is part of the Beartooth-Bighorn Magmatic Terrain (BBMT). You
may want to include a figure with these different terranes. Next discuss later events including the
Laramide uplift that produce the current Beartooth Mountains.
The last part of the section should be about the geographic location of the sample (e.g. field or
location map) and any field information (e.g. field photos) you might consider relevant.
Sample preparation and analytical procedures (20)
This section should contain information on several topics (depending on what was done by the
student and what was done previously to prepare the sample):
 rock preparation
o hand sample acquisition and description [not the actual description, but the fact that you
did one as part of a systematic process]
o rock cutting procedures
o thin section procedures
 petrographic descriptions [not the actual description, but the fact that you did one and the
microscope(s) used]
 analytical procedures
o backscattered image acquisition and its usage for mineral identification and electron
microprobe analytical point locations, and
o electron microprobe analytical conditions
o normalization procedures for the minerals that you used for the minerals that you
analyzed
Below is an example of the type of electron microprobe analytical procedure that I have used in
one of my papers (Henry, D. J. and Dutrow, B. (2001) Compositional zoning and element
partitioning of nickeloan tourmaline in a metamorphosed karstbauxite from Samos, Greece.
American Mineralogist, 86, 1130-1142).
“Electron-microprobe analysis
Tourmaline, staurolite, gahnite, muscovite and paragonite were quantitatively analyzed
by wavelength-dispersive spectrometry (WDS) using the automated JEOL 733 electron
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microprobe at LSU. WDS analyses were done at an accelerating potential of 15 kV and 5-20
nA using a 1-5 m electron-beam diameter, depending on the mineral. Lower sample current
and wider beam diameters were used for mica analyses. Standards were well-characterized
synthetic and natural minerals, including andalusite (Al), diopside (Ca, Mg, Si), fayalite
(Fe), chromite (Cr), synthetic glasses (V, Ni, Co), kaersutite (Ti), rhodonite (Mn), willemite
(Zn), albite (Na), sanidine (K) and apatite (F). Several well-characterized tourmalines and
staurolites served as secondary standards to ensure good-quality analyses (Dutrow et al.
1986, 1999; Holdaway et al. 1986; Henry and Dutrow 1990). Micas and gahnite were
normalized on the basis of 11 and 4 oxygens, respectively.”
Results (30)
This section should contain information on several topics and should emphasize the information
that you acquired:
 hand sample description
o general appearance and observed mineralogy
o any textures (e.g. foliation, lineation, crenulation cleavage, etc.)
 petrographic description
o mineralogy, mineral dimensions and mineral modes (and variations if it is a
heterogeneous sample)
o maybe add a thin section scan and any digital photomicrographs that you took
o optical heterogeneity (color or optical zoning)
o textures of minerals (e.g. lineation, foliation of specific minerals) or replacement
o alteration of minerals (e.g. sericitization of plagioclase, chloritization of biotite, etc.)
o proper petrologic rock name based on the major minerals and textures
 backscattered image
o Description of the image and any additional noteworthy features
o Analytical points on image
 Electron microprobe analyses
o Tables of mineral analyses including the weight % oxide data and normalized atoms per
formula unit (e.g. from STOICH program).
o Discussion of what kind of minerals you are dealing with (e.g. plagioclase An25-28;
edenitic hornblende).
o Possible comparison of mineral chemistry data from other rocks from class
Discussion/conclusions (30)
This section should contain information on several topics:
 Information on PT conditions (the following are some possibilities of many)
o Hornblende-plagioclase bearing rocks should include the following:
 Holland and Blundy, 1994 geothermometer assuming the best estimate of P
 discussion of whether this rock has the appropriate mineral assemblage
 note the estimated uncertainties
o Hornblende-bearing rocks should include:
 Ernst and Liu, 1998 geothermobarometer for both P and T
 Note the uncertainties
o Biotite-bearing rocks
 Henry et al., 2005 Ti-in-biotite geothermometer
 Suitability of rock for application of this thermometer
 Uncertainties
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

o Garnet-biotite rocks
 Berman TWQ geothermometer
o Plagioclase-feldspar rocks
 2 feldspar thermometer for igneous rocks
o General assemblage information relative to a petrogenetic grid (e.g. sillimanitecordierite-biotite or garnet-cordierite-biotite assemblages).
Discussion of where this rock fits into the history of the area and any discussion as to where
it might have come from (e.g. basalt, granite, mantle…)
o If there is whole rock data, this is a good place to discuss the potential original extrusive
rock type using the TAS diagram, and discuss possible igneous mineralogy using a
CIPW calculation (although you should remember the limitations of the CIPW norm,
esp. they do not include hydrous minerals like biotite or amphibole in the calculations.)
Anything else that you think might be important.
Tables (10)
Presentation of data in a table form can be a very effective way to convey the detailed information
that you have gathered or determined. The tables could include representative rock and/or mineral
analyses, PT calculation comparisons, or other information that may be useful. Be sure to format any
tables in accordance with American Mineralogist standards.
Acknowledgements (10)
Thank all those that assisted you in completing this task.
References cited (10)
Include all of the references that you cited in your paper in the format used by American
Mineralogist.
Appendices (10)
Appendices serve as repositories for the detailed information that is too much for the main part of
the manuscript. These could include things like your petrographic reports, tables from the probe, or
anything else you may not want to put in the main text.
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SCORING RUBRIC – PET ROCK PAPER
Student_____________________________
Criterion
Score
Comments
Formatting requirements
(20)
Figures (40)
Paragraph construction (20)
Mechanics of writing –
Grammar, spelling and
punctuation (20)
Title: (10)
Abstract (20)
Introduction (20)
Geologic Setting (20)
Sample preparation and
analytical procedures (20)
Results (30)
Discussion/conclusions (30)
Tables (10)
Acknowledgements (10)
References cited (10)
Appendices (10)
Total (290)
/290
or
%
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